---
title: "Two of my N97 widgets made the shortlist"
description: "Nokia's N97 widget design contest shortlisted Tweetly and Today in History, two of the 36 widgets I designed in February. Here are all of them."
url: "https://rayson.me/writing/n97-widget-contest-2009/"
category: "Design"
author: "Janarayson"
published: 2009-03-10
---

Two of my entries for Nokia's N97 widget design contest made the shortlist, Tweetly and Today in History. Now it goes to a public vote on the Nseries site. Funny thing is, I was hoping they'd pick some of my better ones ... these two took me less than ten minutes each.

## The contest

The contest has been running on the Nseries site since December, and entries closed on 27 February. The N97 isn't even out yet, but it has widgets on the home screen, little 360 by 60 strips, and Nokia wanted ideas for them. It's a design contest, so no programming, just mockups in Photoshop. I'm not a programmer and I don't enjoy programming, but this I can do.

The entry form only gives you 350 characters to explain each idea, which isn't much, so I put mine up on a WordPress blog, [N97 Widgets](https://n97widgets.wordpress.com), three at a time. I tried to come up with things nobody in the gallery had done yet, and to keep each one simple, because widgets should be simple. MeVid came from a night I couldn't sleep.

## All 36

<Strips
  items={[
    { src: vnote, alt: 'Vnote widget mockup: a voice note strip with record, pause and stop buttons', label: 'Vnote', note: 'Voice notes. Record, pause, stop. The pause button sits on the right so big fingers don\'t hit stop by mistake.' },
    { src: facebook, alt: 'Facebook Status Update widget mockup: a strip of friends\' status updates with up and down arrows and a comment button', label: 'Facebook Status Update', note: 'Your friends\' status updates, scrolling up and down, with a comment box right there.' },
    { src: digg, alt: 'Digg Updates widget mockup: a strip of popular Digg stories with a little digger character', label: 'Digg Updates', note: 'Popular stories from Digg. Tap the little guy with the shovel to digg one.' },
    { src: mevid, alt: 'MeVid widget mockup: a video diary strip with camera swap, upload, play and record buttons', label: 'MeVid', note: 'A video diary. The N97 has a camera on each side, so you can swap between them, then upload to YouTube.' },
    { src: autoreply, alt: 'Auto Reply widget mockup: a strip with a missed call list, an on and off switch and an edit pencil', label: 'Auto Reply', note: 'Sends a set SMS to anyone whose call you miss.' },
    { src: photoboard, alt: 'Photo Board widget mockup: four photo thumbnails in a row', label: 'Photo Board', note: 'Up to four photos from your gallery, Flickr or Picasa, sliding from right to left.' },
    { src: geovine, alt: 'Geovine widget mockup: a strip of photos taken near your location', label: 'Geovine', note: 'Photos snapped where you\'re standing, from Nokia\'s Vine service.' },
    { src: iwontforget, alt: 'I Won\'t Forget widget mockup: one calendar appointment with a date and an arrow', label: 'I Won\'t Forget', note: 'Your next calendar entry, one at a time.' },
    { src: autoanswer, alt: 'AutoAnswer Machine widget mockup: a strip with missed calls, play and record controls and an on switch', label: 'AutoAnswer Machine', note: 'An answering machine on the home screen. Record a greeting, listen to messages.' },
    { src: fonedata, alt: 'Fone Data widget mockup: a data counter and the network name', label: 'Fone Data', note: 'How much data you\'ve used, and which network you\'re on.' },
    { src: fonestatus, alt: 'Fone Status widget mockup: missed call, SMS and email icons with counts', label: 'Fone Status', note: 'Missed calls, SMS and new email at a glance.' },
    { src: yourtube, alt: 'YourTube widget mockup: a strip showing new videos from YouTube subscriptions', label: 'YourTube', note: 'New videos from the YouTube channels you subscribe to.' },
    { src: whereami, alt: 'Where Am I widget mockup: a small map with a life saver button', label: 'Where Am I?', note: 'For when you\'re lost. One tap and GPS puts you on the map.' },
    { src: foneusage, alt: 'Fone Usage widget mockup: usage time, standby time and total call time', label: 'Fone Usage', note: 'Usage and standby time since the last full charge, and your total call time.' },
    { src: especiallyyou, alt: 'Especially You widget mockup: one contact with a heart and call, SMS and email buttons', label: 'Especially You', note: 'One special contact, one tap to call, SMS or email them.' },
    { src: igotlive, alt: 'IGotLive widget mockup: an MSN Messenger strip with status, friends online and a quick message', label: 'IGotLive', note: 'MSN Messenger status and quick messages.' },
    { src: yoohoo, alt: 'YooHoo widget mockup: a Yahoo Messenger strip with a status message', label: 'YooHoo', note: 'The same for Yahoo Messenger.' },
    { src: groovylizer, alt: 'Groovylizer widget mockup: a music visualiser strip', label: 'Groovylizer', note: 'A visualiser for whatever is playing, with effects that change with the music.' },
    { src: quicktune, alt: 'QuickTune widget mockup: a song title with left and right arrows', label: 'QuickTune', note: 'Flick left and right through your playlist without hunting for tiny buttons.' },
    { src: quicklock, alt: 'QuickLock widget mockup: a single lock button', label: 'QuickLock', note: 'Lock and unlock the phone. Nothing fancy.' },
    { src: fonefav, alt: 'FoneFav widget mockup: six contact photos in a row', label: 'FoneFav', note: 'Six favourite contacts on the home screen. Tap a face to call.' },
    { src: speedster, alt: 'Speedster widget mockup: a speed reading with bars growing from the centre', label: 'Speedster', note: 'How fast you\'re going, from GPS. The bars turn red past 200km/h.' },
    { src: stripedate, alt: 'Stripe Date widget mockup: the date and time in coloured stripes', label: 'Stripe Date', note: 'The date and time, hopefully nice to look at.' },
    { src: quickwifi, alt: 'QuickWifi widget mockup: a list of Wi-Fi points with coloured signal bars', label: 'QuickWifi', note: 'Nearby Wi-Fi points and their signal strength, and a switch for Wi-Fi.' },
    { src: quicknav, alt: 'QuickNav widget mockup: a large navigation arrow and a destination field', label: 'QuickNav', note: 'A big arrow for turn-by-turn directions while you walk.' },
    { src: tweetlystatus, alt: 'Tweetly Status widget mockup: a Twitter feed strip with up and down arrows', label: 'Tweetly Status', note: 'Your Twitter feed on the home screen.' },
    { src: pingster, alt: 'Pingster widget mockup: a Ping.fm strip with a text field and a post arrow', label: 'Pingster', note: 'Post to Ping.fm and every network it covers in one go.' },
    { src: tweetlyupdate, alt: 'Tweetly Update widget mockup: a strip for posting to Twitter', label: 'Tweetly Update', note: 'Post to Twitter straight from the home screen.' },
    { src: partyanimal, alt: 'Party Animal widget mockup: an events feed strip', label: 'Party Animal', note: 'An RSS feed for parties, gigs and events near you.' },
    { src: alarmreminder, alt: 'Alarm Reminder widget mockup: a reminder with a Set button and an X to dismiss', label: 'Alarm Reminder', note: 'An alarm for tasks and appointments.' },
    { src: birthday, alt: 'Birthday Reminder widget mockup: a contact whose birthday is coming up', label: 'Birthday Reminder', note: 'Birthdays from your contacts, two days ahead. Tap the name to call.' },
    { src: glatitude, alt: 'Glatitude widget mockup: a strip showing a friend nearby', label: 'Glatitude', note: 'Friends nearby, using Google\'s new Latitude.' },
    { src: itextedyou, alt: 'I Texted You widget mockup: an unread SMS with the sender\'s photo', label: 'I Texted You', note: 'Your latest unread SMS, with the sender\'s photo.' },
    { src: bloggerroll, alt: 'Blogger Roll widget mockup: a scrolling list of new blog post titles', label: 'Blogger Roll', note: 'New posts from the blogs you follow.' },
    { src: todayinhistory, alt: 'Today In History widget mockup: a strip with an event from history for today\'s date', label: 'Today In History', note: 'What happened on this date in history, from History.com.' },
    { src: reverselookup, alt: 'Reverse Lookup widget mockup: a strip showing where a call came from', label: 'Reverse Lookup', note: 'Where a missed call came from. If it\'s a mobile, which cell tower.' },
  ]}
  caption="My N97 widget designs, February 2009."
/>